Broken Frontier

One of the most integral concepts that underlines the universal psyche of man is that of time. Frankly, it is not one that I am a great believer in. The manufacturing of arbitrary numerical units to mark the passage of time is something uniquely human and, in my view, uniquely stupid.

However, who am I, a single, lone individual, to challenge thousands of years of science and custom? I have given in and written this column to mark my first year on Industrial Evolution.

As destiny would have it, in a unique act of symmetry, this is also my last Industrial Evolution column. You read it right – the last. Even though I have been anticipating writing that previous sentence, it is a difficult one to type.

Inheritance is never easy. I am not the creator of this column and I feel that over the last year I have struggled to stamp my own voice over an elusive blueprint established by Mike Bullock. I suspect that Mike and I had different views on what Industrial Evolution was all about. I also suspect that Mike had quite a clear view, whereas for me …

So, it is time to close down the factories that drive the Industrial Evolution.

This ending has been generated by my own personal evolution, which I have, in fits and starts, chronicled on these very (web) pages, as well as on my personal blog (see http://jasonbereklewis.blogspot.com). The past year has seen new opportunities to evolve as a creator and the fruition of long held creative goals.

From Legacy: Rebellion to Tiki’s Phayrie and They & Them, to a few more projects that I can’t yet talk about publicly, my move towards a career path in creating, editing, writing, promoting and marketing comics is gathering pace, faster than ever before.  

The one thing that has remained constant during my time on Industrial Evolution, indeed throughout my life, has been my love of story. This is a devotion that I plan to continue chronicling here on Broken Frontier, but more on that later.

Although I have never felt truly focused on the whole of what Industrial Evolution is, I have always been incredibly focused on each column that I have penned (or, more accurately, typed!). Some have hit, and some have missed, but I have truly enjoyed bringing you the stories that I have over the last year.

I look back on the creators and friends who participated in the column with pride: Tom DeFalco, Ethan Van Sciver, Keron Grant, Scott Beatty, Marat Mychaels, Jon Malin, Jason Martin, Mark Poulton, Jon Taddeo, Marcia Chen, Joe Benitez, Mauro Di Pede, Ken Lillie-Paetz, Ben Lichius, Gabriel Rearte, Mike Bullock, Greg Pak, Nigel Raynor, Mike S. Miller, Terrance Griep, Kevin Grevioux, Adrian Todd, Ryan Odagawa, Jason Metcalf … all of them creators who I greatly admire. I am humbled to have ‘spoken’ to them all. My “inner geek” gets tingles every time I read that list. They each also have my thanks for putting in the time to trade emails and answer my questions.

The best thing about Industrial Evolution is that the column gave me an opportunity to learn from them all and to begin to evolve myself. Over the last year I have taken long steps down the road of creation, always learning from those who I greatly admire. I still keep in contact with many people on that list and I owe a debt of gratitude to them all.

Industrial Evolution also gave me a great opportunity to grow as a fan and to boldly declare my love for the popular and not-so-well-loved corners of this industry. I also hope that in getting excited about books like Elsinore, Koni Waves, Super Real, Jenna and Son Of Vulcan, I got some of you excited too.

Writing Industrial Evolution helped to develop and enhance my love of independent comics and led me to discover some awesome tales and wonderful talents. The column also allowed me to call the best comic book and pop culture internet site ‘home’.

Finally, the column gave me a chance to get to know many of you, extraordinary fans of an extraordinary story telling medium.

So, my loyal readers, this is the end, the last melodramatic thrashing of characters that form words that are transmitted through cyberspace by electrons and the like … this is the conclusion.

Industrial Evolution is dead … long live Industrial Evolution!

However before you start chanting too enthusiastically, I should warn you that, like a reanimated corpse, or a phoenix, I will be back! In the next few weeks, my all new feature, The Story Factory, will debut right here on Broken Frontier.

So, I am signing off from Industrial Evolution with a HUGE thank you to Fred for allowing me to cyber squat on this very site and for having faith in me, even when I am struggling.

Also, a MASSIVE ‘cheers!’ to those of you who kept up with the column and who have shown support for my first tentative steps down a creative road that I hope to follow for a long, long time.

Before I go, check out my all-new My Space! See you there. Plus, I will see you all back here in a few weeks when my mint condition, holofoil-enhanced BRAND NEW column debuts.

The Industrial Evolution has ended.

Viva la evolution!